Display and merchandising apparatus and method



Nov. 9, 1965 H. D. YUDELSON 3,216,546

DISPLAY AND MERCHANDISING' APPARATUS AND METHOD Filed Sept. 21, 1962Sheets-Sheet 1 36 54 72 90 a 126 144 M/IHZ' H N u 4x 1 m 1 on kg 5 t,

INVENTOR BY M 7hZL ATTORNEYS Nov. 9, 1965 H. D. YUDELSON DISPLAY ANDMERCHANDISING APPARATUS AND METHOD Filed Sept. 21, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR Maw BY 9&5 4,4 whz;

ATTORN E Y5 Nov. 9, 1965 H. D. YUDELSON 3,216,545

DISPLAY AND MERCHANDISING APPARATUS AND METHQD Filed Sept. 21, 1962 3Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEYS United States Patent M 3,216,546 DISPLAY ANDMERCHANDISING APPARATUS AND METHDD Harold D. Yudelson, 414 W. PeachtreeSt. NW., Atlanta, Ga. Filed Sept. 21, 1962, Ser. No. 225,215 9 Claims.(Cl. 13--2) This invention relates to store fixtures and moreparticularly to shelving especially applicable to the merchandising ofpackaged articles arranged according to styles, models, and sizes, suchas shoes or other footwear.

The general object of the invention is to provide novel and improvedinstallations for shoe stores or the like, whereby the continualrequired rearrangement of the stock may be accomplished expeditiouslywith the attendant savings in time, labor, and costs.

Another object is to provide a novel method of running such stock.

Currently, shoes packed in the familiar cardboard boxes are normallyarranged or stacked in retail stores according to the following system.Of course, in order to readily locate a given style and size the boxesmust be arranged in a logical and consistent predetermined order,broadly by stock number and by size within the stock number. Thus, theproperly labeled and designated boxes are usually arranged in verticalsequence from bottom to top of a column, with about seven or eightcolumns to a section of shelving. With this arrangement, in order torearrange or run the stock, each box to be re-positioned to take upvacancies must be withdrawn from the shelf and reinserted in the desirednew position.

The present invention, in its preferred embodiments, contemplates thearrangement of the sequence of the items horizontally instead ofvertically and the provision of means for permitting the sliding of theboxes horizontally along the shelves to close gaps in the stock to makeroom for new stock at any desired point, and for this purpose theinvention provides in effect virtually an endless shelf as will appearfrom the detailed specification.

Features of novelty attendant upon these objects include means forsupporting the shelving in such a way that a minimum of obstruction toaccess to the stock is presented; means for facilitating the sliding ofthe boxes along the shelves both on the straightaway and around corners;and means for enabling the passage of boxes from one shelf level to ahigher or a lower one with a minimum of friction.

Other objects and features of novelty will be apparent a a from thefollowing specification when read in connection with the accompanyingdrawings in which certain embodiments of the invention are illustratedby way of example.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a view in front elevation of a shelving installationaccording to the prior art;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary diagrammatic view in front elevation ofshelving according to the present invention, and including in similardiagrammatic form a return-bent guide chute for the passage of boxesfrom one level to another;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of an end portion of a shelvinginstallation with the guide chute shown in somewhat more detail;

FIGURE 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 44 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a view in perspective of a shelving arrangement according tothe invention;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary view in vertical section illustrating onemeans for supporting the shelving and l maintaining substantiallyunobstructed sliding movement of the boxes;

3,216,545 Patented Nov. 9, 1965 FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary view inelevation of interlocking supporting means for the return guide chute;

FIGURE 8 is a view in horizontal section through a portion of the wallof a store showing means for permitting the running of the stock arounda corner.

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary view in vertical section taken on line 99 inFIGURE 8; and

FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary view in vertical section of a modified formof cantilever shelving.

Under present practices the stock of shoes in a retail store is arrangedin vertical sequence by stock number and sizes, the stock numbers beinggenerally assigned so that similar styles or types or colors are groupedto gether in whatever order the management deems important. Thearrangement in vertical or columnar order presents many problems in therunning of the stock, that is, the rearrangement of the stock aftersales over a given period of time whereby insertions of new stock ofvariable quantities may be made and the array of articles or containerscondensed to fill up any gaps remaining. This process of running thestock employs the services of a salesman or other employee for aconsiderable portion of their time once each week or even at shorterintervals. The chief difliculty of course is the necessity for pullingeach article or box completely out of the shelves-and reinserting themat appropriate points on other shelves. Some ineffective proposals havebeen made to arrange the stock in horizontal order, but the limitationson the widths of the sections of shelving (usually to accommodate onlyseven or eight boxes side by side) have prevented an adequate solutionof the problem.

In a typical shoe store doing about $100,000 worth of business annually,there are stocked about eight thousand pairs of shoes. Approximatelyone-half of this stock, four thousand pairs, must be run or moved eachweek and this entails about twelve hours Work usually demanding overtimepayment. During the busy seasons the difficulties and costs become moreacute as the turnover becomes more rapid.

One of the problems in running shoe stock is that the operatorpractically never runs or moves all of the stock at any one time. He maystart at any point in the stock and run it in either direction dependingfirst on where the available spaces or holes are and secondly, dependingon where the new or replacement merchandise must be put in the stock ondisplay. Therefore, the starting and stopping point in the flow ofrunning of the merchandise should be completely flexible.

In FIGURE 1 there is illustrated a typical arrangement of stockaccording to the present practices employing a shelving unit 10 which isin this example eight positions wide. The stock is run vertically frombottom to top as indicated by the numerals shown in the figure ofdrawing, beginning at the lower left-hand corner of the section andprogressing upwardly in each column and from column to column toward theright. Very obviously, this requires pulling the items completely out ofthe shelves and replacing them upon other shelving.

In FIGURE 2 there is shown diagrammatically the lower portion of asection of shelving provided in accordance with the principles of thepresent invention. This shelving unit is given the general referencenumeral 12 and the base is indicated at 13 and certain of the individualshelves at 14, 15, 16 and 17, the number of shelves and height of thesections being chosen in accordance with the size and architecturaldesign of the store. The width of the section 12 may also be increased,the nine-unit width being merely chosen for illustrative purposes asbeing 0 approximately the size of the present units of shelving.

The arrangement of the articles on the successive shelves is inhorizontal order beginning at the left and continuing toward the rightin alternate shelves and progressing from right to left in theintervening shelves, as clearly indicated by the numbers applied to theunits in FIGURE 2.

Now the problem arises as to how to run the stock by purely slidingmovement of the articles both along an individual shelf and from oneshelf to another either above or below, and this has been solved by thepresent invention in the provision of a turn-around chute indicateddiagrammatically at in FIGURE 2 and in considerably more detail on anenlarged scale in FIGURE 3 of the drawings.

The chute 20 is removably attached to either end of the shelving unit 12and in a position to provide sliding movement of the articles from anyof the shelves to adjacent shelves either above or below. As it isattached in FIGURE 2 of the drawings, the chute provides communicationbetween the bottom row of articles upon the base 13 to the row nextabove resting upon the shelf 14. Very obviously, the chute 20* could beenlarged to provide inlet and outlet openings which would permittransfer of units from one shelf to a second or third shelf above orbelow the initial shelf, if desired. However, the invention will beillustrated in connection with the transfer of units from one shelf toan adjacent shelf and reference should be had to FIGURE 3 in thedisclosure of the details of the chute.

Within the broader aspects of the invention the turnaround chutes maytake any convenient form, but specifically the illustrated embodimentcomprises an enclosure or drum 22 which may be made of sheet metal, thispart being preferably closed on the rear side by a wall 23 which assuggested in FIGURE 4, may lie alongside the build- .ing or fixture wall24. The near side of the enclosure 22 is preferably provided with aperipheral flange 25 to which may be attached cross braces such asindicated at 26 and 27. The forward end or nose 28 of the chute is inthis particular instanceof a height to accommodate the passage of itemsfrom one of two adjoining shelves to the .other, and in solid lines theattachment is for the transfer of items to and from shelves 14 and 15.The dotted line indications above and below the solid line positionindicate other adjustments of the device for the shifting of items fromother adjacent pairs of shelves. The peripheral flange 25 and oppositeportions of the rear wall 23 are provided with openings 30 to receivethe pintles or trunnions 31 of a series of rollers 32. The brace 26 andan opposite central portion of the rear wall 23 are provided withregistering openings 34 to receive the trunnion or axle 35 of the drum36. At the forward end 28 of the chute 20 the brace 27 and oppositepoints on the rear Wall 23 are provided with suitable openings tosupport the trunnions 38 of the roller 39. Trained around the drum 36and the roller 39 is the belt 40.

This completes an anti-friction means whereby the items to be run, suchas the shoe boxes 50, may be passed from one shelf through the channelbetween the outer rollers 32 and the belt 40 and back to an adjacentshelf through a return-bend of 180.

It matters little that the boxes on alternate shelves will be ininverted position since the box labels 51, in accordance with theinvention, are printed both right side up and upside down so as to bereadable no matter what position the boxes assume on the shelving.

For ready detachability and application to the shelf the return chute 20is provided with a series of strips 52 adjacent the positions of theshelves involved and these strips 52 are provided with head strips of awider dimension indicated at 53. Upon each end of the shelves aresecured C-shaped flanged strips 55 into which the head strips 53 of thechuternay slide in application and removal of the chute. This is clearlyshown in FIGURE 7 of the drawings.

It will now be clearly seen that the running of the stock is not limitedby the width of the sections of shelving,

but either by the use of detachable return chutes 20 at various pointsalong the height of the shelving or by the removal and re-application ofone of the chutes, sliding transfer of the items 50 from one shelf tothe other can be readily attained, and thus in effect the entire systemof shelving made endless. Thus, whenever the holes or vacancies mayoccur, the stock can be moved in either direction to condense the stock,or if more new stock is to be added than a given vacancy permits, thestock can be expanded by the same sliding movement of the items.

The perspective view in FIGURE 5 affords a clear showing of a typicalinstallation. It is of course important that the shelving beunobstructed at the ends thereof and also accessible from the front bothfor removal of items for a sale or for manipulating the articles duringrunning of the stock.

One way of supporting the shelving to attain this desired feature isshown in FIGURES 4, 5 and 6 of the drawings where shelf supporting posts60 are positioned at intervals along the face of the shelving and theseposts are provided at each shelf level with projecting prongs or bars 61which enter sockets 62 in the edges of the shelving and thus affordadequate support for the shelves. Preferably, the forward edges of theshelves are chamfered as at 64 to provide a funneling effect to aid inreplenishing the stock.

In order to provide unobstructed sliding movement with a minimum offriction, the rear portions of the shelving are provided with the guidebars 65, the lower portions of an upper guide bar and the upper portionsof a lower guide bar affording sliding contact with the boxes 50 duringtheir movement.

An alternative method of supporting the shelving is suggested in FIGURE10 of the drawings, this expedient offering a cantilever series ofshelves 67 set in sockets 68 in the back wall 69, the shelves beingfurther braced by means of the crossed tension strands 70. Guide pieces71 are provided which are the equivalents of the guide bars 65 of theearlier described embodiment.

The novel system of running stock may be applied to afford continuousmovement around the periphery of the store, that is, from shelving onone wall to shelving on a perpendicular wall, and an appropriate systemfor effecting this is illustrated in FIGURES 8 and 9 of the drawings. Inthis arrangement the wall of the store is indicated :at and it may berecessed as at 81 to accommodate the mechanism for guiding the boxes 50horizontally around the right-angle bend in the shelving installation.The rear wall of the shelving is suggested at 83 and one of the shelvesshown at 85. The rear wall 83 follows a preferably circular curvaturefor the most part in rounding the corner, the curvature of course beingtangent to the straightaway sections of the main installation. A slotindicated at 88 is formed in the wall 83 along the curve to accommodatethe operative parts of the guide device indicated generally by thereference numeral 90. This device comprises an endless belt 91 trainedaround end pulleys 92 and guided in suitable fashion to a curved patharound the corner of the installation.

Secured to the belt at intervals determined by the approximate Width ofthe articles 50 are the spacing blocks or projections 95, theseprojections being tapered or somewhat wedge-shaped for a purpose to bedescribed. It is of course important in guiding the boxes 50 around thecurve that they do not become displaced due to the fact that during thepassage in this curved path the only contacts between the boxes are atthe forward corners. Thus the projections 95 are adapted to provide anadequate and firm spacing at the rear corners of the boxes.

A problem is presented in permitting the entrance of the projectionsbetween the boxes as they start their pas sage around the curve. Thishas been solved by the provision of a tripping strip which is secured tothe shelf 85 at each end of the curved path. This strip, similar to athreshold, is preferably triangular in plan and beveled as shown inFIGURE 9 so that two adjacent boxes 50 will be lifted at theirrespective rear and forward edges to spread them apart particularly attheir remote ends as shown in FIGURE 9. This permits the nose of thewedge-shaped spacer member 95 to enter between the boxes and then, asthe curvature of the path increases, the projections 95 enter fullybetween the boxes and provide a firm spacing arrangement during thepassage around the principal portions of the curved path.

Thus it will be seen that provision is made for the sliding movement ofarticles or containers of this general type along any portion of theentire shelving installation of an establishment without obstruction atany point and thus frees the process of running the stock from anylimitations due to obstructions such as shelf ends or partitions,passage around corners, or movement from one shelf to an upper or lowerone, virtually affording a single endless shelf to an entire retailestablishment.

Using the diagram of FIGURE 2 as a basis, with the understanding thatthe end of the rows containing boxes 18 and 19 are connected by asimilar chute installation 20, a specific example of the use of theinvention according to the above disclosure will be given. Let us assumethat sales have removed the boxes indicated by the symbol X, which inthe diagram are boxes 4, 7, 8, 13, 16, 19, 21, 23, 24 and 26. Then letus assume that when the time came for running the stock, replacementshad been received for say four of the styles which had been sold, forexample, as represented by boxes 7, 16, 24 and 2.6. The replacementswould be filled in the gaps left by these boxes. However, we shallassume that there have been received five new styles which are to beinserted after box 14, as suggested by the arrowhead between boxes 14and 15. (They could be called 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d and 142.) Accordingly,box 14 is manually pushed to the right to cause the remaining gaps at13, 8 and 4 to close up. This means the passage of boxes 10 and 11 downthrough the chute 20 at the right-hand side of the lower portion of thecase to take the places of boxes 8 and 9. Box 12 will take the place ofbox 10 and box 14 will take the position of original box 11. Then box 15is pressed toward the left, causing gaps at 19 and 21 to close andfinally positioning box 15 at the present location of box 17. Thisleaves five spaces open (namely, at original positions 12, 13, 14, 15and 16) for the new stock. Of course, since only nine replacements werereceived and ten gaps were left from previous sales, one gap would stillremain at original position 23.

Various changes and modifications may be made in the embodimentsillustrated and described herein without departing from the scope of theinvention as defined by the following claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A display and merchandising shelving installation for classified orgraded articles such as boxed shoes in a retail shoe store, saidinstallation comprising vertically stacked tiers of horizontal shelvesfor the storage and display of the articles according to predeterminedclassification, means facilitating the expansion, condensing, andshifting of the stock of said articles by sliding move ment only, ineither direction, said means comprising smooth unobstructed guide stripsdisposed along each tier of shelves permitting sliding movement of thearticles in either horizontal direction along an individual tie-r, andcurved chute means for selectively connecting a tier of shelves withanother tier at the end of the installation, whereby articles may beslid in proper sequence not only along any given tier but from one tierto the other without individual removal and replacement movement fromthe front, each said chute means comprising a curved guide track ofsubstantially 180 curvature with receiving and discharge openingsdirected toward the respective shelf ends of the installation, betweenwhich the articles are to be transferred by sliding movement only, and

6 readily detachable connections provided between the chute and the endportion of the shelving for application of the chute, and removalthereof when the stock is not being run.

2. The installation as set forth in claim 1 which in cludes boxes forcontaining said articles and in which labels are afiixed to the box endsreading both right side up and upside down, to accommodate the inversionof the boxes in the 1 sliding passage through the chute from one tier toanother, and in which anti-friction means are provided interiorly of thecurved chute for facilitating the passage of articles from one tier tothe other by pushing manually against one article in the series to bemoved.

3. The installation as set forth in claim 1 in which 'verticalsupporting posts are provided at intervals along the shelving but atpoints offset forwardly from the front edge of the shelves, andhorizontal bars extend from the posts at the levels of the respectiveshelves and secured to the front edges of the shelves.

4. A display and merchandising shelving installation for classified orgraded articles such as boxed shoes in a retail shoe store, saidinstallation comprising vertically stacked tiers of horizontal shelvesfor the storage and display of the articles according to predeterminedclassification, means facilitating the expansion, condensing, andshifting of the stock of said articles by sliding movement only, ineither direction, said means comprising smooth unobstructed guide stripsdisposed along each tier of shelves permitting sliding movement of thearticles in either horizontal direction along an individual tier, andcurved chute means for selectively connecting a tier of shelves withanother tier at the end of the installation, whereby articles may beslid in proper sequence not only along any given tier but from one tierto the other without individual removal and replacement movement fromthe front, provision being made for sliding said articles horizontallyaround laterally curved shelving, said provision including a series ofspacing projections carried on an endless belt, said projections adaptedto be moved along the path of the articles around the curved shelfsolely by thes liding of the articles themselves, tripping meansprovided on the respective shelves at the outset of the curved portionfor tilting adjacent articles in opposite directions to provide spacebetween upper and intermediate portions of the respective articles forthe entrance of the projections.

5. The installation as set forth in claim 4 in which the projections arewedge shaped and adapted for progressive insertion between adjacentarticles as the curvature of the path increases.

6. Guide means for the accommodation of the sliding movement of a seriesof closely juxtaposed articles of the shape of rectangularparallelepipeds around a horizontally curved shelf wherein obviously theradially outward ends of contiguous articles are angularly separated,said means comprising an endless belt installed alongside of the convexside of the shelf and a series of spaced projections extendinghorizontally from said belt so that the successive projections as theypass along the shelf side of the belt enter between the ends of adjacentboxes at their separated edges along the convex side of the shelving,the maximum width of the projections being such that the separated edgesof the articles are held apart a distance which will substantiallymaintain the articles in radial position with respect to the center ofcurvature of the shelf, with the edges of adjacent articles on theconvex side of the shelf in direct contact.

'7. The installation as set forth in claim 6 in which the projectionsare wedge shaped and are adapted to progressively enter the spacesbetween the box ends as the curvature of the shelf increases.

8. The method of arranging, handling, and running stock in a retailstore, such as a shoe store, which method comprises arranging the stockin classified sequence horizontally along a multiple tiered shelvinginstallation beginning at one end of the lowermost shelf and continuinghorizontally along said shelving, then in reverse direction along thenext succeeding upper shelf, thence in reverse directions along eachsucceeding upwardly adjacent shelves, providing a 180 return looppassageway be tween the adjacent shelves at the ends thereof at whichthe sequence of articles on the lower shelf ends and the sequence on thenext upper shelf begins, removing articles at random as sales occurcreating gaps in the sequence of articles, periodically running thestock by ascertaining the point where articles of new stock are to beinserted, applying lateral pressure to articles on either side of saidpoint to move said adjacent articles and further articles along theshelves in either direction and around the end passageways wherenecessary in order to close said gaps and make room for such newarticles, thus dispensing with the necessity of pulling and replacingarticles individually at the front of the shelving.

'9. The method according to claim 8 wherein substitutes for old removedarticles are filled into the gaps where desired prior to the running ofthe stock for such insertion of new articles.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,193,118 8/16Buck 198-28 1,440,316 12/22 Pierce l9327 1,839,841 1/32 Fry 1'94-981,882,435 10/32 Mojonnier 198--34 1,983,571 12/34 Slater 211-1342,567,204 9/51 Hagenbook 19 8-470 2,581,363 1/52 Creedon 2111342,818,978 1/5 8 Post 211162 2,907,441 10/59 Nafziger 19833.4

SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner,

1. A DISPLAY AND MERCHANDISING SHELVING INSTALLATION FOR CLASSIFIED ORGRADED ARTICLES SUCH AS BOXED SHOES IN A RETAIL SHOE STORE, SAIDINSTALLATION COMPRISING VERTICALLY STACKED TIERS OF HORIZONTAL SHELVESFOR THE STORAGE AND DISPLAY OF THE ARTICLES ACCORDING TO PREDETERMINEDCLASSIFICATION, MEANS FACILITATING THE EXPANSION, CONDENSING, ANDSHIFTING OF THE STOCK OF SAID ARTICLES BY SLIDING MOVEMENT ONLY, INEITHER DIRECTION, SAID MEANS COMPRISING SMOOTH UNOBSTRUCTED GUIDE STRIPSDISPOSED ALONG EACH TIER OF SHELVES PERMITTING SLIDING MOVEMENT OF THEARTICLES IN EITHER HORIZONTAL DIRECTION ALONG AN INDIVIDUAL TIER, ANDCURVED CHUTE MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY CONNECTING A TIER OF SHELVES WITHANOTHER TIER AT THE END O THE INSTALLATION, WHEREBY ARTICLES MAY BE SLIDIN PROPER SEQUENCE NOT ONLY ALONG ANY GIVEN TIER BUT FROM ONE TIER TOTHE OTHER WITHOUT INDIVIDUAL REMOVAL AND REPLACEMENT MOVEMENT FROM THEFRONT, EACH SAID CHUTE MEANS COMPRISING A CURVED GUIDE TRACK OFSUBSTANTIALLY 180* CURVATURE WITH RECEIVING AND DISCHARGE OPENINGSDIRECTED TOWARD THE RESPECTIVE SHELF ENDS OF THE INSTALLATION, BETWEENWHICH THE ARTICLES ARE TO BE TRANSFERRED BY SLIDING MOVEMENT ONLY, ANDREADILY DETACHABLE CONNECTIONS PROVIDED BETWEEN THE CHUTE AND THE ENDPORTION OF THE SHELVING FOR APPLICATION OF THE CHUTE, AND REMOVALTHEREOF WHEN THE STOCK IS NOT BEING RUN.